


No One Lives For Long

by webhead3019



Category: No One Lives (2012)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-02
Updated: 2018-12-02
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:15:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21743617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/webhead3019/pseuds/webhead3019
Summary: PART 2 OF NO ONE LIVES: Finally free of one other, Driver and Emma go about their own separate quests... quests which will bring the two to a crossroads once more. Deep down, neither may admit it, but Driver and Emma love each other. However it’s for that reason, they can never be together and as history would dictate, their coupling has no happy endings.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 4





	1. NO ONE, SAVE TWO

Yesterday at the hospital, the prolifically sadistic and murderous man known only as Driver said his sweet goodbyes to Emma Ward. After killing everyone else, he broke his own rules by opining to let her go rather than kill her. He had formed an unusual attachment and in the end, he couldn't bring himself to kill her. Then again, nothing is ever simple in the world of Driver. He instead released Emma Ward from his clutches in the only way he knew how.

He cut his homing beacon out from the girl's very gut he had imbedded it in, like so many girls before her. She was not like the other girls though. She had a particularly special spot in his cold, however beating heart. He didn't realize it then, but whether he had let Emma Ward go free into the land of the living or the dead made no difference to Driver. The very thought of letting her go free at all was no less of a burden he simply had to bear.

It pained him to think Emma would now live a life without him in it, yet he had given Emma a choice. He had given all his victims a choice. The only difference was Emma had beaten him at his own game and lived. She had impressed Driver, yet she wanted nothing to do with Driver. Emma Ward was the one who got away and Driver would respect her desires, even as it broke his heart wide open, shattering it so into one thousand pieces. Broken as they come, but both have officially gone their separate ways.

However, neither could ever be without the other. Driver certainly couldn't and Emma certainly couldn't, mentally at least. Driver may not show it in the face, but he still lusts for Emma's company just as much Emma Ward lusts for revenge on her captor. Emma has been imprinted with a unique twist of Stockholm Syndrome following her time spent with Driver. In a way, you could say she loves him as much as he loves her.

The only difference in the bizarre love shared between the two is that Emma wants to rid herself of her significant other entirely. She can't bring herself to forgive him for everything he had done and she can't forgive herself for being drawn to him, even if his seductive person is second to none. The two have hit a notable pitstop in their complicated relationship so nevertheless, Emma's quest for vengeance is placed indefinitely on hold. While Emma Ward is strictly confined to her hospital bed, Driver is himself a free agent.

Not wanting to take another chance at love, at least for awhile, he instead replaces his lust for companionship with his lust for blood. Naturally, Driver isn't your typical killer and like anyone who's unique, he craves a good challenge. Fortunately for him and yet not so fortunately for everyone else, an opportunity has arisen for Driver to show once again that he's more of a numbers guy. Driver will once again put his very own survival skills to the test in this bizarrely addictive game of lusts and death.

3 MONTHS AGO

Emma pushed open the door with no locks to the tomb Driver had kept her in. No, it was the tomb she had kept herself in. She swore to herself the next time she escaped would be the last time, but she was so sure that now had been the time. Of course, Driver was waiting for her in the shadowy rear of the room. For the most part, she could only make out his outline, but the whites of his sly, foxlike eyes pierced two adjacent beams through the enveloping shadow. She gasped, but it was more of an overwhelmed gasping for air rather than a frightened one.

She wasn't sure how long he had stood there like some beast in a closet, but she knew he had been expecting her. So it was for that reason, she wasn't alarmed by his presence, but he made her feel no less uncomfortable. Driver said, "Even if it was for the briefest of moments, you had escaped. I told you the choice was yours and you chose. You chose to run, yet you came back to me. Why do you suppose that is?" Emma said, "Stop fucking teasing me like this hasn't happened to you before. You knew I would come back to you."

Driver confirmed, "Indeed, I did. In fact, I determined you would try to escape some time ago. It's why I left the door open, so you had the option to see for yourself." Emma said, "I knew there was a catch you hadn't told me, you son of a bitch. If I have a choice to be free of you, why can't I just put you out of my fucking head?" Driver said, "You don't see clearly as I do, Emma. You've just taken your first steps into my darkly domain. Eventually, you will and then the choice will be yours."

Driver continued, "Either of two outcomes will give you the relief you seek. Will you be by my side when it is pitch black or will you be without me at last?" Emma said, "I'm so sick of the cat and mouse shit. Okay, psycho? Just tell me what I have to do or so help me, God." Driver said, "There is a beatable outcome to my so-called psychopathy, my so-called unusual madness. Like all things that are beatable, it comes in the form of a game. If you so wish it, a game will be played, then you can be free of me once and for all."

Emma asked, "A game? It all boils down to a game?" Driver confirmed, "Yes, indeed. One day, my sweet dear Emma, we may have to play that game." Emma said, "Jesus! A game? You can take the sadistic shit you do and twist it into a game? That's just rich. A game, you say! What kind of fucking game do you sell me?" Driver said, "It's a game of wills. Whosoever wins will be the decider in who lives and who dies. Heed my words and heed them with passionate ears. The loser must in fact die in order for the victor to walk freely."

Driver reassured her, "You can live a life without me, Emma. You simply have to survive me." Emma shot back, "Simply? Sounds awfully cruel, if you ask me." Driver agreed, "Life is cruel seeing that it is restrictive. Death is the only real release from it. I demonstrated that twice to you visually. Both were two very separate instances, but it still comes in other forms. One doesn't have to personally die to enjoy such releases. I have killed both myself time and again, albeit scores of others countlessly more in countless ways."

Driver concluded, "Killing is the sweetest release we, as unique individuals have been yearning for." Emma said, "Bullshit. Before you, I never wanted to fucking kill anyone so badly my entire fucking life. I was happy with the way I was living. You changed that. You changed everything." Driver said, "No, Emma. I changed nothing. I simply told you something that is unknowable. It is unknowable until it is properly introduced in the form of experience."

Driver droned, "You yearned for it, yet you did not know it. You yearn for it as we speak, yet you still do not know it. Surviving that which deters the human body, mind, and soul is the answer to everything. In wake of one's survival, an immense gratification is unrooted and it is gratification parallel to none." Emma said, "Why must your games always end in death? Where do you get off in considering the loss of life a success?"

Driver said, "It might not appear to you now, but it just is. Unequivocal success explicitly marks its ultimate point when presented with the odds needed to test the fabric of one's most individualist and primal nature." Emma said, "What you're telling me sounds quite the gamble. It's such a gamble that I'm not too willing to take you up on. How can you prove beyond a reasonable doubt to me your games can be won?" Driver said, "I don't. Many have taken me on this offer. None have bested me at my game and lived."

Emma said, "I guess you just proved my point," Driver reiterated, "You guessed wrong, as no one in particular is fated to die. Everyone says they don't have what it takes until they themselves survive. Similar games have been played. Even while dead, I'm just as mortal as you." Driver continued, "Survival is not certain by all defaults. You must place everything on the line, for only the unopposed resolve to eat rather than be eaten makes survival certain."

Emma said, "What else do I get out of this game? Surely there's a reward of tellable certainty to be found." Driver explained, "I already told you that which is your reward. Once again, survival is the reward. There's no pain you can't bear when you successfully counter all the odds going against you. I believe you have the potential to survive me, Emma Ward. What I believe should be of no importance to you. I come before you but a sole survivor myself, fighting for my own selfish demands."

Driver broke free from his post in the back of the room and casually made his exit past her. Although he didn't fully exit the confines before delivering a satisfying end to his lecture. He said, "You have to believe it yourself. In the end, the only person who really matters is yourself. It's a big step, a leap of faith if you will. If chosen, you will travel far without question and without regrets. The limits or lack thereof to the bounds you leap is entirely up to you, Miss Ward. It forever has and it forever will.”


	2. NO CODE LIKE SLOW CODE

Two and a half days have come along and gone by since Emma Ward was safely returned to the public eye. Naturally, she was still “confined” to a hospital bed, though it was as much of her own willingness as it was the will of the doctors. She was soon to receive her first visitor since Driver and the visitor in question couldn’t have come at a more detrimental time for her. The visitor was none other than her abusive ex-boyfriend named Connor whom she seemingly hadn’t seen in a lifetime.

Connor hastily entered the hospital Emma Ward was staying at and found his way to the desktop. He joked, “It’s a busy day for paparazzi outside, but it’s a no-go zone in here. They’re certainly working you to the bone. Did all the hospital staff take medical leave or what?” The nurse receptionist who was on call when he had made his presence known broke however briefly, away from the mouthpiece to address him. She said, “Fill your name in the form there. We’ll be with you shortly.”

Connor glanced about him before raised his eyebrows at her. The receptionist said, “At first glance, we may appear understaffed, but we are still a functioning hospital. We really will be with you. I’m frankly almost done here.” Connor stopped bugging her and the woman returned to her phone call. He stared at the spaces on the clipboard for a good moment before scribbling in his signature, time, and occasion. She got off the phone just as he set the pen down.

Taking note of the hefty blankness on the page, Connor said, “Interesting. I would have thought her parents would have seen her before me.” The nurse asked, “I’m sorry, who are you looking for?” He said, “I’m here to Emma Ward. Shes’s here, isn’t she?” The woman confirmed in a most confusing manner, “Yes... she is.” Connor looked uncomfortable for a moment and said, “God, she’s not fucking comatose, is she?” Taken aback by his word choice and temperament, the nurse sighed, “No, she isn’t.”

He tapped on the counter rapidly with his fingers and asked, “Then what is she?” The woman replied, “Emma Ward is on a strict No Visitor list. She is simply not to be seen at the moment, not even from her own family.” Connor groaned, “Well, can you tell Emma that her fucking boyfriend came to pick her up. She told you she had a fucking boyfriend right?” The nurse said, “She did not, but I’m guessing there’s some emphasis missing on the “had” you just uttered.”

Connor said, “For Christ’s sake, it’s been 6 months. Can everyone just move the fuck on already? I hit her once... once!” Disgusted, the nurse said, “In our line of work here, once is once too many.” On a tangent now, he went on ignorantly, “Oh, so what if she has PTSD? At least she didn’t get that part from me. She spent 6 months in fucking isolation with some fucking psycho. I don’t think some bed in a hospital is going to do her any favors.”

The receptionist said, “Listen mister, if we’re to go around divulging a patient’s confidential information at each other, I’ll have you know Emma explicitly told us not to allow any psychopaths in. I take it you were one of those psychopaths we were warned about.” Connor said, “Oh, screw you very much. I’m nothing like that fucking guy! I don’t have to put up with this shit from you or anyone else.” He proceeded to march angrily down the hallway with destination set in mind.

The woman immediately motioned for the landline and said, “Mister, there’s no visitors allowed in that room. If you go into intensive care, I’ll have to call security.” Connor responded defensively, “Give it a rest, will you? I’m not crazy so I’m not going to. I can kindly go down the fucking hall, can’t I?” She let go of the receiver and once he was out of range, he mumbled under his breath, “Stupid bitch.” Connor noticed a lone man waiting outside of Emma’s room.

Conveniently where the man was sitting, the light bulb was out. It was a total ghost town in that hallway, as if it had been purposefully cleared out that way. Connor had the strangest feeling he should recognize the man, but he had never seen him before his entire life. Connor said, “I don’t know if you heard the fucking cavalry over there, but Emma isn’t receiving any visitors. That is, if there’s something no one is telling me.” Driver didn’t exactly bother to answer him.

Connor wondered curiously, “How did you get past security anyway? I didn’t see any other names on the waitlist. Did everyone up and fucking die aside from that incompetent nurse or what?” Once again, he got nothing. Connor chuckled, “I see now. I’m talking to a fucking ghost. Statistically speaking, we as the human race are most likely to die in a fucking hospital.” He wasn’t sure if he could hear him, but Driver’s dead, glaring eyes gave him the creeps. Connor said, “You’re staring at me awfully funny, silent treatment. You a fucking fruit or what?”

He had thought that would have gotten him to answer then, but Driver still gave him no such satisfaction. Connor cracked his knuckles and said, “Sorry to be the one who breaks the ice for you, but we are in a fucking hospital, slow code. That being said, is there anything I can help you with, mister?” Driver stared even more intensely at him and at long last, he broke his silence, “I don’t know, is there?” Connor snapped back angrily, “I don’t fucking know, you tell me! It was my goddamn question to begin with, asshole. So what?”

Driver said back to him, “So what?” Connor filled in the blanks, “So what the fuck is your damage? What are you in for?” Driver answered cryptically, “Loose ends.” Connor asked, “Loose ends? What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” Driver said, “Prior to letting her go, I kept tabs on Emma’s personal life. I’m not here for her, but here I am anyways.” Connor said, “So who is it that’s got you knickers so far in a twist. You here to get some doctors for yourself after I beat your creepy ass to a fucking pulp?”

Fired up now, Connor said, “I’m sure as all hell down if you are and you couldn’t have picked a better fucking boxing arena. With all these first aid kits lying around, I bet I could put a hole in your head that they could sew up in a jiffy. Granted, finding a proper brain transplant might be a hassle, but it seems to me you survived this long without one.” Driver replied, “I’m not here for Emma. The one I’m here for is none other than you, Connor Bergman.” This was enough to take Connor by surprise but he quickly regained his composure.

Connor pointed out, “Alright, wise ass. let’s get one thing fucking clear around here. I don’t know who the fuck you are and you sure as fuck don’t know me. Let’s tread our separate fucking ways now like this shit never got blown out of proportion.” Driver said, “This isn’t a simply blowoff. I knew your fucking name, didn’t I? Would you like me to tell your home address, your social security, or better yet... your fucking zodiac sign?” Connor said, “Alright, what did Emma tell you about me, because that bitch is clearly not taking her medicine.”

Driver felt a twinge of unbridled rage on the notion that Connor had called Emma a bitch, but his face remained nevertheless calm. The killer under the guise of a man explained, “I swore I would never interfere with Emma’s life again, but I’ll be damned if I allow the same for a lowly, despicable shit like yourself.” Connor shouted, “Screw you! Who the hell are you anyways?” He thought long and hard before snorting at the very idea. He exclaimed, “Her boyfriend? As if! Good grief, you’re so fucking prim and proper.”

Connor said, “I mean, could it be anymore fucking obvious? You’re just some incel stalker who heard the news and now you’re trying to get in her pants. Ding, ding, ding! Been there, done that, dipshit!” Driver didn’t answer and Connor burst into a fit of laughter, “Yeah, don’t you dare fucking deny it. Caught you with your fucking pants down, didn’t I? I saw how your face lit up when you mentioned my bitch of an ex’s name.” Connor was getting on Driver’s last nerve with that word.

Normally, he didn’t care what anyone said. Anyone could say anything and he wouldn’t care what it was. In the case of Emma, he turned no such deaf ear. Driver said, “Call Emma Ward a bitch again. No, really. You have my express approval.” Connor took his verbal liberty even further and said, “Emma Ward is a fucking cunt bitch and so are you. Is that up, close and fucking personal enough for you, you fancy pants boot-shiner?”

Driver lifted Connor by the nuts and slammed his back spine-first into the wall, causing the latter to scream out in immense pain. Driver gritted his teeth and asked, “I don’t know, is it?” Connor sobbed and asked again, “Hey, who the hell are you, man?!” Driver said, “Let’s just say if you at all value the quacking dribble you call your fucking life, I’m someone you should be very, very weary of. Am I in any fucking way misunderstood?” At a loss for words, Connor rapidly and most violently shook his head side-to-side.

Driver said, "Alright, then. Listen up. The warrior of a woman you called a cunt once and a bitch thrice has survived quite the ordeal. She is to be shown a considerate amount of respect by the likes of you, you who are not yet knowledgeable of such an ordeal. It is knowledge acquired by the chance few. You too can acquire it should you survive this said incident of your own making. It is in fact, thanks to your own making. Now, let's set some guidelines.”

Driver said, "Enticing she may well be, but you are to stay a reasonable distance from Emma Ward. You can still see her, but you must make sure she does not see you. From this moment onward, you will never again cast your shadow in Emma's life. If you truly care for Emma, you will remove yourself from Emma's life completely. If you do not uphold your end of the bargain in any way, I will know and I will be the one to take you out of Emma's life completely.”

Driver said, "You will find my delivery methods most damaging to the recipient. I like to handle things... destructively." Driver flexed his vice-like grip in an uncomfortable manner. He concluded, "Naturally, you will forget who put these cautions into place. Once more, am I in any way misunderstood?" Connor silently yet aggressively shook his head for the second time. Driver loosened the grip he had on the man's genitals and said, "Great. That wasn't so fucking hard, now was it?”

The boy shook his head again and wheezed, "Nope. Not at all! You mind letting go of my fucking nuts now?" Driver said, "Gladly. Call it me sending a fucking message, but I just have to break something before I go." The boy tried desperately to stop him and said, "I'm sorry, what?" Driver only released himself from the vice-like crotch squeeze after driving all of the boy's weight downward, whacking his tailbone against the bottom edge of the wall.

For his second motion, Driver wasted no time for breaths. He closely followed the impact's momentary lock on the human rag doll's body, kicking down and out with a left steel-toed boot. Results of the swift and powerful deliverance were bone crunching. His curb stomp struck Connor in the area of thigh muscle that was but a hairline fracture from his groin. As his body crumpled and stretched out against the floor, Connor's calf muscle and femur in turn tore off its respective ribbing like a shed twig.

He cried and screamed his head off as Driver abandoned him there to rot by oneself like yesterday's garbage. The nurse leapt from the confines of her desk and asked Driver, "Is everything alright? I heard screaming." Driver smiled a devilish and sardonic smile at her which she nervously reciprocated, a wave of blush overcoming her. Albeit in a serious voice, he wittily remarked, "Just some baby having a temper tantrum is all. It's really nothing to be concerned about.

Not fully buying it, the receptionist said, "Are you sure? That sounds like one constipated baby if you ask me." Driver said, "Just make sure Emma Ward is taken care of for the duration of her stay. If not, I'll be back. Oh, and trust me on this. I may seem charming now, but you don't want me back. No one lives... not for long anyway." The receptionist looked at Driver in the way that his parting words were supposed to mean something deeper.

Preferring to end on a more cryptic note, that was really it for him. With his side-quest out of the way, Driver exited the hospital. He was a wolf in lamb's wool, yet no one in that crowd knew it. No one living knew that wolf, no one save for Emma. He could have been anyone in that crowd. The police may have his name on file now, but it was not his real name. In his true, naked form, he was simply the wolf known as Driver.


End file.
